

One of Hillary Construction’s Cat 140K motor graders working on a new
dual carriageway section outside Kroonstad. This is a green field project
in the sense that construction of the southbound carriageway is to be
built on virgin land adjacent to the N1.
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
JULY 2015
4
In terms of quantities on the Holfontein to
Kroonstad route, there will be approximately
one million cubic metres of bulk earthworks;
590 000 m
³
of gravel layer work; 82 000 m
³
of G1 base course; 300 000 tonnes of G4 for
the sub-base; and 530 000 m
²
of asphalt
surfacing. UTFC will also be the final layer on
this section.
All road materials (G4 sub-base, G1 base
course, plus asphalt and concrete aggre-
gates) for the various project phases will be
sourced from a Ventersburg quarry pit des-
ignated by SANRAL and managed by a sep-
arate contractor.
“The SANRAL specification stipulates that a
40 % RA be incorporated in the new asphalt
composition laid,” explains Hillary Construc-
tion’s managing director, Trevor Freestone.
“In other words, 40% of the existing as-
phalt will be milled, crushed, screened and
recycled to enable a sustainable pavement
solution.” RA screening and crushing will be
carried out by Hillary.
Aggregate and asphalt materials will be
hauled by a newly acquired fleet of ten 8 x 4
on-highway trucks linked to 3 axle pup trail-
ers. These truck acquisitions form part of an
approximately R75 m investment in capital
equipment that includes the new asphalt plant
on site.
Earthmoving plant deployed includes two lat-
est generation CAT 950 GC medium wheel
loaders supplied and supported by southern
African CAT dealer, Barloworld Equipment.
One of the CAT 950 GC units is assigned to
Polokwane Surfacing’s asphalt manufacturing
P
olokwane based contractor, Hillary Con-
struction, is forging ahead on a range of
multi-disciplinary contracts nationally,
which include two major Free State projects
with a combined value of around R720 m.
Work is now underway on a South African
National Roads Agency (SANRAL) project on
the N1 (Section 17) heading north from the
Holfontein interchange (Km 24) to Kroonstad
(Km 45). The contract commenced from Feb-
ruary 2015, with a scheduled completion date
of February 2018. The project value is approx-
imately R560 m.
This multi-faceted construction programme
was awarded to Polokwane based company,
Hillary Construction, which will be responsible
for all phases, from bridge and culvert devel-
opment, to the final riding surface. There are
three bridges involved along this route that will
need to be rebuilt, including one over the Blo-
emspruit, as well as a road-over-rail bridge.
The project entails the creation of a dual car-
riageway between Ventersburg and Kroons-
tad. This is a green field project in the sense
that construction of the southbound carriage-
way is to be constructed on virgin land adja-
cent to the N1. Once completed, traffic will be
diverted onto the new roadway and thereafter
full reconstruction will take place on the ex-
isting N1 pavement, which will become the
northbound carriageway.
Running in parallel as part of the over-
all work package is an 18 month SANRAL
contract, valued at around R160 m, which
commenced in February 2015 and has also
been awarded to Hillary Construction. The
scope here covers the Kroonstad to Westle-
igh section and includes the rehabilitation of
the Kroonstad bypass.
This project will involve some 60 000 m
³
of
recycled sub-base. Meanwhile, pavement sur-
facing quantities include 170 000 m
²
of BTB
(Bitumen Treated Base), followed by 23 000
tonnes of medium grade asphalt, and a final
295 000 m
²
layer of Ultra Thin Friction Coarse
(UTFC). All asphalt phases will be carried out
by Hillary Construction subsidiary, Polokwane
Surfacing.
Key benefits of using UTFC include less traf-
fic noise, and improved rideability since this
is a porous asphalt proven to be safer in wet
weather as it improves skid resistance.
CONSTRUCTING
SAFER TRANSIT
ROUTES